(1) The licensure requirements of this part do not apply to any person engaged in recommending prescription hearing aids as part of the academic curriculum of an accredited institution of higher education, or as part of a program conducted by a public charitable institution supported primarily by voluntary contribution, provided this organization does not dispense or sell prescription hearing aids or accessories.
(2) The licensure requirements of this part do not apply to any person licensed to practice medicine in this state, except that such physician must comply with the requirement of periodic filing of the certificate of testing and calibration of audiometric equipment as provided in this part. A person employed by or working under the supervision of a person licensed to practice medicine may not perform any services or acts which would constitute the dispensing of prescription hearing aids as defined in s. 484.041, unless such person is a licensed hearing aid specialist. (3) The licensure requirements of this part do not apply to an audiologist licensed under part I of chapter 468.
(4) Section 484.053(1)(a) does not apply to registered trainees operating in compliance with this part and board rules. (5) The licensure requirements of this part do not apply to a person who services, markets, sells, dispenses, provides customer support for, or distributes exclusively over-the-counter hearing aids, whether through in-person transactions, by mail, or online. For purposes of this subsection, over-the-counter hearing aids are those that are available without the supervision, prescription, or other order, involvement, or intervention of a licensed person to consumers through in-person transactions, by mail, or online. These devices allow the user to control the device and customize it to the user’s hearing needs through the use of tools, tests, or software, including, but not limited to, wireless technology or tests for self-assessment of hearing loss.
